2026 Liberty High School Athletic Signing [PHOTOS]
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Thirty-one Liberty High School seniors announced their college athletic commitments Friday at the school’s annual College Selection Ceremony, capping a week of programming aimed at helping graduating students chart their next steps.
The ceremony, held in Liberty’s Memorial Gymnasium, recognized signees across multiple sports and divisions, including football players bound for Dartmouth College, Lehigh University, Shippensburg University, Bloomsburg University, Wilkes University and Lackawanna College, along with field hockey players headed to Moravian University and Rider University.
Athletic Director Fred Harris said the group includes athletes signing partial Division I scholarships as well as those continuing in Division II and Division III programs.
“Behind me, 31 strong, are those men and women that said, ‘I’m going to use athletics as a vehicle to move on in my future,’” Harris said.
Principal Brandon Horlick, addressing the signees, framed the moment as the start of a stretch of senior milestones.
“Today we kick off really what is a season of celebration, a season of milestones here for our seniors, and we’re here to honor a group of young men and women who’ve not only mastered their sport, but also have demonstrated the discipline, grit, and heart that it takes to compete at the next level,” Horlick said.
Friday’s ceremony closed out what Liberty has rebranded as Find Your Future Week — formerly known as All College Week — a series of panels, a college fair and a college planning night designed to expose seniors to pathways including the trades, information technology, the military, the workforce and college, Harris said.
Bethlehem Area School District Superintendent Jack Silva, who announced in February that he will retire effective July 1 after three years leading the district and 40 years in public education, attended the ceremony. Silva said the recognition extended beyond the highest-profile athletes.
“It’s not only rewarding for the kids who really do remarkable things — records like Jake Pukszyn or Ava Kopetski — but the kids who stretch to be able to make the varsity team, and then even become a strong fifth man or a role player on a team, who end up being recognized and continue their career in college sports,” Silva said.
Among the signees was senior wrestler Elijah Williams, who said the moment had not yet sunk in.
“It’s so surreal,” Williams said. “I’m just grateful for the opportunity to be here. I’m thankful for my coaches, thankful for everything that’s been in my life to help me get here.”
Williams, who transferred to Liberty last year, said he was initially against joining the wrestling team and only did so after losing a bet with his father during his freshman year. He said he plans to study business management with the goal of opening his own tattoo shop.
Head wrestling coach Brandon Hall said building a sense of belonging for transfer students is part of the program’s job.
“We tried to let him see that this is a family, an extended family, and that we will support you fully in all aspects of your life,” Hall said. “And I think this season, he really felt that — on the mat, off the mat, in the classroom.”
Senior basketball player Quin Lucas-Bishop, a 6-foot-8 center, said he plans to study nursing in college.
“A lot of work put in, a lot of unseen hours,” Lucas-Bishop said. “And I’m just thankful I got the opportunity.”
In closing remarks, Harris told the signees that their connection to the school does not end with graduation.
“No matter where you go, and no matter what you do, you will always be a Liberty Hurricane,” Harris said.
Liberty High School, located at 1115 Linden St., is part of the Bethlehem Area School District, the sixth-largest school district in Pennsylvania, serving nearly 13,000 students across 22 schools.